Broken Promises
by Cl0ckworkCha0s
Summary: When Sephiroth cheats on Cloud, Cloud leaves his home for a while and goes to stay with his parents. while there, he meets his old friend Zack Fair. As a relationship ensues, Cloud faces some tough problems, which Zack helps him through. YAOI & LANGUAGE.
1. Chapter 1

Broken Promises - Chapter One

Cloud was the perfect 'housewife'. He would cook his lover, Sephiroth, meals and clean the house while he was away working as a SOLDIER, which he knew put a large physical strain on him.

One night, however, Sephiroth went out and spent some time with his friends, rather than coming home and putting his feet up, while eating whatever splendor Cloud had cooked up for him that evening. As he sat down at the bar, ordering himself a beer, a farmiliar red-head wandered over and sat beside him, ordering a vodka and coke for himself.

"Pah. A woman's drink." The silverette smirked slightly, knocking back half a pint of his beer.

"Oh, you know me, Sephy. Always been quite femine, yo." Reno cooed back, taking a

dainty sip of his drink, trying to prove the point he had just made. Sephiroth chuckled to himself as his mind wandered to the cute blonde who awaited his return, but shrugged the thought away as Reno slipped a hand over the inside of Sephiroth's thigh. He gave a warning glare, making Reno retract the hand and take another weak sip of his drink. Sephiroth finished his beer and ordered something stronger.

_"Drink as much as you want, so long as you can get home by the morning so I can make you pancakes and coffee to sober you up" _ Cloud had told him that morning. Sephiroth, after hearing those words, was determined to get 'shit-faced'.

As he downed the last of his third drink of vodka, Sephiroth had achieved his goal, and Reno had slipped his hand, once again, in between his thighs and started stroking Sephiroth's package. Instead of refusing the hand, he welcomed it and leaned over to whisper in Reno's ear; "Shall we go somewhere more... private?" At which Reno leapt up almost too eagerly and practically dragged Seph away to his apartment.

Reno bedded the silverette, stripping him and starting to lick at the other's shoulders and neck, moving down his chest beginning to suck on the other's erection. Sephiroth, obviously too drunk to seme Reno, just layed there and let a few moans escape his chapped lips every now and again.

As Reno started fucking him, He wrapped his legs around his thin waist and gripped his shoulders. He had never been topped before, and he loved it.

"Ah-Reno! Don't stop!" He had begged, just as Reno came for the second time.

Eventually, when the two had finished their activities, Sephiroth was driven home by Reno, who only had half a drink.

He clambered into his warm bed beside cloud, still fully clothed. Cloud rolled over and nuzzled into Seph's chest, but he smelt someone else on his clothes. "Sephiroth, why do you smell like somebody else?" He asked, looking up into Sephiroth's half closed snake-like

eyes.

"It was just the pub, lots of people were bumping into me" he replied casually, looking down into Cloud's mako eyes. The blonde just nodded, satisfied with his explanation, snuggling back into sephiroth and falling asleep until he awoke to the sound of his alarm at 5:30 the next morning. Thankfully, Sephiroth didn't have work that day, so Cloud quickly switched off the sound and quietly crept out of bed and to the kitchen, while Sephiroth still slept like a log.

He began to make a pile of pancakes for the two of them, also brewing a pot of coffee for 'Sephy' to take his painkillers with. Cloud bounded back up the steps and awoke the sleeping silver beauty, who rolled over, snorted and groaned as he sat up, clutching his bed-head.

"Mornin' sleepy" The blonde smiled cutely. "I made you some pancakes and coffee, there are some painkillers downstairs aswell for your headache."

The silverette got out of the bed, shrugged off his shirt and went downstairs in his boxers. He sat at the kitchen table, ate a couple of pancakes and took his ibuprofen, before slumping over and groaning.

"Owwww my head..." He grunted as Cloud hugged him softly.

"Maybe you should go take a shower. That'll liven you up a bit." Cloud grinned and helped his boyfriend to stand, walking him to the bathroom and helping him into the shower.

By this time, Sephiroth's painkillers had already started to kick in. He grabbed cloud by the waist and began to feather light kisses over his neck, shoulders and ears. Cloud blushed as

he was pulled under the jet of lukewarm water, his pyjama trousers and boxers getting soaked. He decided he didn't care though, and wrapped his arms round his lover's neck as

the silver haired man pushed the blonde's trousers down and began to stretch his entrance.

Cloud moaned as Sephiroth lifted him and began bouncing him on his erection, the shower of water droplets parading on their skin.

Soon after, they both came and began washing themselves. they dressed when finished and sat on the sofa, cloud's feet up on Sephiroth's lap, and watched TV for a while.

After about 3 hours of them watching different programmes, flicking through channels and making out every so often, the doorbell went.

"I'll get it" Sephiroth grumbled as he climbed off of cloud, after their sixth or so make out session.

"Whatcha doin', yo?" The red head asked, inviting himself in and sitting beside cloud, leaving sephiroth to stand against the wall and watch Reno cautiously.

"Just wanted to tell you how much fun I had lastnight. You're pretty tight, Sephy." Reno teased. Cloud's eyes widened, he stood and went over to sephiroth, then turned to Reno.

"Did you two have sex lasnight?" he asked, his eyes watering and his breath getting caught in his throat.

Reno said nothing, so he turned to his boyfriend. "Did you..." he whimpered, hardly wanting to say the words; "Have sex... lastnight?" he closed his eyes and balled his fists up. Sephiroth gave no answer, just looked down guiltily. Cloud yelled and kicked and screamed at sephiroth, before Reno grabbed him from behind trying to calm him. Cloud then turned on Reno, blaming him for it all.

"GET THE FUCK OUT. BOTH OF YOU!" He growled slumping himself down on the couch and curling into a ball, crying his broken heart out.

Both of the other men left while Cloud just layed on the sofa, eventually running out of tears to cry.

He decided to call his mother, to ask if he could stay with her and his father for a while.

"Of course you can, honey. you can stay for as long as you need to." She had answered, after Cloud had explained the situation.

Cloud began to pack up his things, also packing one of Sephiroth's favourite shirts and his cologne.

Once cloud had packed up most of his stuff, he wrote a note which he stuck on the front door.

"Gone to stay with my mom, Don't know when i'll be back. Sephiroth will take care of the mail."

Then, he set off. he got a train to his parents' town. The three hour long train journey seemed to take forever to Cloud. But he hopped off the train at the end of it, and met his parents past the gate. His mother took him into her arms, giving him her 'comforting hug'. His dad just nodded at him. He had never approved of Cloud's sexuality, but he had never argued with it either.

Cloud's dad drove him and his mom back to their house, showing Cloud back into his old bedroom from when he was a teenager, not that long ago.

"Welcome home, Son." His mother smiled as Cloud dropped his bags and let out a small smile. He could smell the odour of the pizza shop that was next door. He used to sit on his bed with the window wide open, trying to guess what pizza toppings they were using and what the individual ingredients were in the pizza dough.

"It's good to be home..." He said quietly as his parents backed out of the room, giving him some space to unpack.


	2. Chapter 2

Broken Promises Chapter Two

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I didn't write anything on the top of the first chapter, cause I kinda forgot to. I also forgot to grammar and spell check, so if there are any mistakes, I am gunna correct them, I just can't be bothered right now xD; **

**Anyway, I feel so sorry for cloud D: BAD SEPHY :c *growl*.**

Cloud started unpacking as soon as his parents left him alone, opening the window to let the lovely smell of fresh, home made pizza flood his old bedroom. It was almost dark outside, the sun casting an intense pinky-orange colour over Cloud's walls. He finished unpacking and took his clothes off, putting the black shirt of Sephiroth's that he had packed with him, spraying himself with some of Sephiroth's cologne and climbing into his warm double bed, snuggling down into the scent of the one who had broken his heart.

The next morning, he was awoken by his mother, who had brought him a hot chocolate.

"Morning Sleepy." She smiled, placing the mug on his bedside table and sitting on the edge of his bed. Cloud rolled over and faced her, his nose under the collar of the shirt.

He inhaled, smiling to himself then sitting up.

"Morning, Mom. Thanks for the drink." He smiled, picking it up and blowing into the cup, hoping to cool it down. He took a sip and smiled, closing his eyes. It was his favourite

brand. His Mom had brought some especially for him, as she knew he was returning.

"You should take a shower, Cloud." His mother asserted, standing and leaving the room, shutting the door behind her to give her son some privacy. Cloud sighed and finished his drink, placing the mug on the bedside table once again, and walking to the bathroom with a towel that he packed from home. He turned on the water, let his clothes drop to the floor and stepped under the Shower.

His mind wandered back to the previous day when he had shared an intimate moment with Sephiroth in the shower, and gulped as he felt his chest almost rip in half. He gasped and bent over, gripping his chest with his eyes tightly shut. He groaned and washed himself before quickly getting back out and wrapping the towel round his waist, practically running back to his bedroom.

"Fuck." He whimpered into his pillow after he had flopped down onto his bed.

He fell asleep like that, and after a couple of hours he awoke. He had missed lunch, but he didnt care. He stood and redressed himself in some jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Cloud, come in here for a minute, please?" His mother called from the living room. Cloud sighed and did as he was asked, opening his door and trotting towards the sound of his mother's voice. She was talking to someone; a female. He frowned and wondered who it could have been. He thought he recognised the voice. As he turned the corner into the living room, he discovered it was the mom of his old childhood friend, and there, sat on the green sofa, he was too.

He had grown a considerable amount. he didn't look the same as he always did, but there was no mistaking the nest of spikey hair that hung down past his shoulders.

"Hey Spike!" Zack had stood now, and walked over to rustle Cloud's hair. It was at this point, Cloud had noticed that he was only as tall as Zack's shoulders. "How've ya been?" the brunette asked, smiling the way he always used to.

"I've been fine, thanks..." The blonde smiled, happy that he could see his best friend again, whom he thought he was permanently separated from since Sephiroth - Cloud winced at the thought of the silverette- didn't approve of Zack and Cloud staying in touch.

_"Zachary is not a good influence, and I feel like you ignore me when he is around us... so I don't want you to be friends with him anymore." _

Cloud had known this was a lot for Sephiroth to ask of him, but because he loved him he agreed, so he could keep Sephiroth.

"How about you?" He finally asked in return. Cloud thought he had taken a few minutes to

ask Zack the same question, but in reality it was only a couple of seconds.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good thanks. I'm still livin' with my mom too" He laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head.

"You two boys go to Cloud's room, now, So us adults can talk." Zack's mom had said, obviously forgetting the fact that both Cloud and Zack were over the age of 18, and so technically also adults. (Both being 19.)

However, the two obeyed and walked the farmiliar route to Cloud's bedroom.

"Can you still smell Pizza from your room?" Zack asked cheerfully as they walked down

the hall.

Cloud answered by opening his bedroom door and letting the smell hit Zack's nose.

"Take that as a yes" Zack mumbled to himself as Cloud shut the door behind them and sat on his bed.

"So how come you're back? And where's... You know who?" Zack asked cautiously.

Cloud groaned when Zack asked the question, but looked at him as he joined him on the bed.

"Um, Sephiroth cheated on me... so I broke it off with him yesterday and came to stay here for a while, just to get my head around things. I'll go home some point, I just can't face it

at the minute..." Cloud looked down, but was engulfed in a large, muscly hug.  
Cloud returned it, sobbing silently on Zack's broad shoulder.

"It's okay, I'll help you get through this, Spike." Zack comforted him for a while. The two clung to eachother like they were going to be seperated again. Zack knew that a hug that lasted this long was a bit weird in anyone elses eyes, but Cloud didn't seem to mind, and Zack sure as hell didn't.

Soon enough, 'the adults' had finished talking, So Zack was dragged home again for some dinner. He was invited to stay at the Strife's house for some dinner, but he had declined,

knowing his mother wouldn't like him to since she had already made enough casserole for the three of them. Cloud waved them off as they drove away in the beat up old red chevvy truck. Zack didn't want to leave, Cloud's mom could tell that, but Cloud was oblivious to the fact and just went back to his room.

"Dinner will be ready in about half an hour, Cloud." His mother warned him as he walked away again.

Seeing Zack had closed the gaping hole in his chest for the duration of his visit, but once he had gone, and Cloud was alone in the confines of his room, it had ripped open again, leaving Cloud helpless and fragile.

Cloud ate his spaghetti bologneise in silence at the dinner table, as his mother and father exchanged small talk about his father's day at work; apparently someone had been

seriously injured by some heavy machinery, and all the employees had been payed $20 extra for having to witness the accident. When this had been said, Cloud had been handed $5, which of course was not refused, but pocketed instead.

After his dinner, Cloud retired once again to his bland bedroom and flopped onto his bed, clutching his chest. he found the shirt that he had donned the previous night and put it on again, climbing under the covers and sighing contently. He knew he shouldn't be trying to hold onto Sephiroth - Cloud winced again - but he couldn't let go just yet. Maybe if Zack hung around more, he could forget about him and focus on a new life. Not nessecarily fall in love, but at least someone could help him forget.

After these thoughts, Cloud fell asleep again, and didn't awake until 9:30 the next morning.

Cloud got up and showered, putting Sephiroth's black shirt in his washing basket, as well as his dirty boxers and socks. he wrapped a towel round his waist and walked to the bathroom, knocking on the door to check if anyone was in there. It appeared there was not, so he entered and started up the shower. he hung the towel on the radiator, so it would be nice and warm for him once he had finished in the shower.

This time, rather than thinking of the silverette, he just showered, his mind devoid of thought. He washed his hair, then washed his body and clambered back out of the shower, wrapping the warm towel around his waist and venturing back toward his bedroom to change into some clean clothes.

His mom had collected his dirty washing, so his washing basket was empty again. Cloud smiled and pulled on some black boxers, black socks, blue skinny jeans and a black and white striped long sleeved top. He felt comfortable, so he rubbed his hair dry with his towel and laughed at himself in the mirror when he realised it was a huge fluff-ball. He tamed it before going into the living room and sitting on the couch beside his mom, watching _desperate housewives._

"You trying to hint at something, mom?" he chuckled, as she pretented to slap his knee.

The phone rang, and Rebecca hopped up to answer it. She smiled a little before turning to her son.

"It's for you." She held the phone out as Cloud walked over and took the receiver from her.

"Hello?" Cloud aksed nervously, he thought it might possibly have been Sephiroth, but he then doubted that his mom would hand over the phone so willingly, with a smile like she

had plastered across her face.

"Hey, Cloud. It's me, Zack. Are you busy?" Cloud breathed a sigh of relief, before answering the voice; "Oh, Hey Zack. No, I'm not busy, why?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come over or anything, I rented a couple of movies out lastnight and I feel kinda lonely watching a horror all by myself..." Zack's tone sounded nervous.

"Sure, What time shall I come over? Before dinner, or afterwards?" He leaned against the

wall, twirling the coiled phone line around his finger and then releasing it, watching it bounce.

"Uhm, Come over before dinner, my mom said she'll feed you, and I was hoping you'd stay the night, too? I know we're both technically adults, but who said we can't have sleepovers?" He chuckled down the phone, making Cloud laugh too.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll ask my mom if it's alright." He mocked Zack, but then actually did ask, receiving the all clear from her.

"Okay, i'll be over at about 4." Cloud smiled to himself, before they both said goodbye and cloud hung the phone up on the wall.

"You should pack an overnight bag then, eh?" Rebecca smiled at him, knowing that being with his old childhood friend was already curing him.

Cloud nodded and jumped up, going to his room and packing some clothes, underwear and grabbing his toothbrush from the bathroom. He also packed a towel, cause he would take a shower at Zack's in the morning. He almost had an OCD for showers, he _had _to have one every morning, otherwise his day would be a bad one.

He arrived at Zack's house at around 3:30, His dad dropped him off so he wouldnt have to walk half a mile in the cold october weather. he waved his dad goodbye as he knocked on the front door.

"Oh hello Cloud. Zack told me to inform you that he is in his room. And that you'd remember which room that was." She chortled slightly, stepping aside to let him in.

"Hello, Mrs. Fair. Thankyou for letting me stay tonight." He smiled politely, slipping his shoes off and leaving them beside a pair of Zacks.

"Oh please, Call me Sarah. And you know that you're welcome anytime, Zack's almost always in." She smiled as she closed the front door and watched him go up the stairs and disappear round the corner, before she went off to the kitchen to prepare her special home made pizza that they used to eat whenever Cloud stayed the night.

He knocked on Zack's bedroom door, and Zack called to say it was alright to come in. Cloud entered, dropping his bag by the wall and shutting the door again.

"Hey, Zack. You alright?" He smiled, plopping himself down on the bed Zack was laying on.

"Yeah, i'm alright thanks. What about you? How're you holding up?" He propped himself up onto his elbows and smiled back at the cute blond.

"A lot better now I'm here." he admitted, looking into Blue eyes, that gazed back at his.

"What're we gunna do tonight then?" Cloud asked, looking down at his hands, a small unnoticeable blush crossing his cheeks for a few moments.

"Oh, I got some ideas..." Zack replied. Was that a devillish look Cloud could see, playing in

the brunette's eyes?

**Well... Seems Zachary is doing something good for his old buddy, Cloud. When Zack hugged Cloud though, I melted inside ;A; **

**Also, I know I switched from calling her Cloud's mum to calling her Rebecca halfway through the fic, but I couldn't be bothered to keep calling her Cloud's mom the whole time. She needed a name, and so did Zack's mom, that's why I called her Sarah xD**

**Both names are totally random, btw. I thought them both up on the spot.**

**Aaaaaannndddddd if you wanna know what 'ideas' Zack has for their evening, you'll have to wait and see, cause I'm not one for spoilers x3**

**It isn't Yaoi though, Cloud isn't ready to move on from Mr. Seph Seph yet -tuts-**


	3. Chapter Three  The Scary Movie

Broken Promises - Chapter Three

The Scary Movie

**Okay. Sorry this took so long to write and upload, but I started school again and i've been revising hectically for a math's exam I had on the 9th of November. ;A;**

**Either way, I'm writing this for my own pleasure, as well as those 5 people who R&R'd on the previous 2 chapters. Thanks, by the way :) **

"So Uh, Ideas... huh?" Cloud asked, looking at his friend curiously.

"Yup, but you'll see as the day goes on..." He reached over and jabbed the blonde in the

ribs, gaining a successful jerk and squeak.

"Ah! Nooo! Don't tickle me!" Cloud laughed, jumping up and backing into the door. Zack soon after followed suit, pinning him and jabbing him more in the ribs and neck.

"Boys, Dinner!" Zack's mom yelled up to them. Cloud pulled the door open and jogged

down the stairs, running from Zack and to the food.

"It's on the table." Sarah directed. The blonde sat first and began to bite into a large slice

of homemade pizza, with pepperoni, mushrooms, chicken, peppers and sweetcorn. Zack

sat opposite him and also began eating his pizza. With a smile, he looked over at his best friend. _'wow... he's looking really hot again recently...' _He thought to himself, his eyes wandering abstent mindedly over Cloud's face.

"Have I got sauce around my mouth?" Cloud smiled, wondering why Zack was looking at him so oddly.

"Huh? Oh, no. Sorry I was in space for a minute then." He grinned and finished the slice of pizza in his hand before moving on to the next.

"You're mad. Always were, Always will be." Cloud laughed cutely, brushing some hair from his face before also finishing his first slice of pizza.

"Yeah, I know." Zack smiled back, taking a huge bite of his pizza, savouring the salty taste of the mixed toppings. The red and orange peppers gave it a sweet aftertaste, so as soon as Zack had finished his second slice, he moved on to his third, leaving one more for Cloud

to eat if he wanted it.

Once they had both finished with their pizza and felt stuffed to the point of unbuttoned trousers, they returned to Zack's room.

"Wanna watch a film, or play truth or dare?" Zack asked, flopping onto his bed, feeling a lot heavier since that pizza.

"uhhh... Film first. When your mom goes to bed we'll play truth or dare." He smiled, feeling like a little kid discussing truth or dare again.

"Alrighty then, pick one." He threw three DVD's onto the bed, one hitting Cloud's knee.

"Hey!" He cradled it, while looking over the covers of the three additions to the bed.

There was 'The Uninvited', 'Paranormal Activity' and 'The Grudge'.

He picked up Paranormal activity and threw it to Zack, accidentally catching him in the side of the head. Zack grumbled, but slotted the DVD into the hole and turned the lights off.

Cloud sat up, propping the pillow against the headboard and relaxing slightly as Zack sat beside him, taking up the same position, right beside cloud. The movie started and Cloud was fine, until it started getting scary. He found himself snuggling closer to his brunette friend, hiding his face in his broad shoulder.

Zack blushed, unnoticably in the dark, Looking down at the blonde's spikes.

"Spike? You alright?" Zack petted the spikes, that were oddly soft and flexible though they always returned to their original, messy position.

"Um, Y-Yeah, Fine..." The blonde responded, turning his eyes back to the screen, a lightly visible blush showing from the light of the TV. This made Zack chuckled deeply in his throat, but he caught himself before Cloud noticed his dark laugh.

Cloud was doing okay, but when he saw something he didn't like, he stuck his head practically in the brunette's armpit and started trembling.

"Do you want me to turn it off?" he asked, placing his muscly arm round his friend's shoulders supportively. The blonde shook his head, looking up into Zack's eyes.

"I'd rather stay like this." Cloud smiled a little. Having had no comforting hugs from his homophobic father, and busy mother, he was going to take advantage of the brunette's caring arm.

"Okay, That's fine with me," Zack replied comfortably. "But we don't need the film on for you to stay that way. we can sit here like this for as long as you want to, Cloud."

The blonde didn't reply, but he simply nodded once against Zack's side. With that, Zack took the remote from beside him and switched off the DVD player and TV.

Cloud wrapped his small arms round Zack's waist and snuggled in closer, breathing in the smell that he had suddenly grown to love, and possibly crave if he had to be torn away from it.

Neither of the 19 year olds knew how long they had sat there like that, but it was completely dark apart from the red light below the power button on the TV. A small, quiet snore was eminating from Cloud's area, and Zack was watching his face, as he had turned slightly, now leaning the side of his face against Zack. As much as Zack regretted it, He sneezed, waking the blonde. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, smiling at Zack softly.

"Thankyou for just sitting here with me, nobody's comforted me about - him..." Cloud had winced, noticeably.

Zack shook his head and ran a hand through his own crazy spikes. "No problem, Spike." They both smiled, looking into eachother's eyes. Zack had unconsciously been leaning forwards, now leaving him and cloud about 3 inches away from eachother's lips.

"Um, Zack? What're you doing?" Cloud asked, a small chuckle in his voice. He didn't mind that his best friend was going to try and kiss him, but it was a little too soon, and he wasnt ready for anything that could confuse him.

Zack blinked and came back to reality, instead of daydreaming about those soft luscious pink lips and his hands all over cloud's nippl-.

"Ah, Sorry. I Dunno." He shuffled away slightly, but was taken aback when Cloud followed him and nuzzled back into his side.

"Don't even try to get away, Mister. you're warm!" Cloud laughed cutely, snuggling back into the Brunette.

Zack's mom knocked twice, opened the door and smiled softly, turning the light on.

"I'm going to bed now, so you two be quiet." She left the two of them and Zack turned to face Cloud.

"Truth or dare, Spike?"

**WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE R&R 3**

**I WILL LOVE YOU FOR EVER, NO JOKE. (i'm joking ;D )**


	4. Truth Or Dare, And A Risky Move

Broken Promises Chapter Four

Truth Or Dare

**ehhheeeee. I'm getting into this story, though I can't help feeling like my writing style is a pile of rubbish ;A;**

"Uhm... Truth." Cloud smiled, curling up and tucking his knees into his chest, hugging them.

"Wimp." Zack smirked before rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"When you look at me, What do you look at first?" Zack smirked a little, awaiting the blonde's reply.

"Well, if i'm looking straight forwards then it's your chest. But otherwise, It's your eyes." Cloud smiled, happy he answered truthfully and that Zack had asked an easy question.

"Truth or dare, Zachary?" Cloud raised an eyebrow, grinning from ear to ear.

"Dare." Zack smirked, thinking himself much braver than his blonde friend.

"Say 'In Bed' after everything you say until your 4th turn." Cloud giggled at his own idea, looking up into Zack's eyes with a cute smile.

"Okay, In Bed." Zack grinned.

"Truth or Dare, In bed?" Zack laughed a little, directing the question towards cloud.

"Uhm, Another Truth." Cloud laughed aswell, wiping some blonde hair out of his eyes.

"What feelings do you have left for that silver haired git? In Bed." He asked, his tone turning bitter towards the end of his sentence.

"H-He's not a git! Wait... Maybe he is... I sometimes feel like I still love him, but I know I don't. I hate him, simple as that. It's going to be hard ever trusting a man again, I'd better steer clear of silver hair and green snake eyes, huh?" He chuckled a little, but Zack could tell he was hurting.

He pulled the blonde into a firm hug, Cloud now sat on his lap with his knees either side of Zack's legs. Cloud just nuzzled into the brunette's neck, breathing in that musky smell of oil and Zack's favourite man-spray.

"Hey, It's alright, spike. I gotcha." He rubbed the man's back in comforting circles, his thumb making smaller circles. Cloud sniffled and raised his head, looking into Zack's eyes.

Before Zack could say anything else to comfort his best friend, their lips were together. Cloud's eyes were screwed shut with longing and hurt. Zack returned the kiss, but pulled Cloud's head away before anything else happened.

"Cloud, this isn't good. You just broke up with the man you love, you're on a rebound."

As much as this pained Zack to acknowledge, he had to say it. He didn't want to have sex with cloud and then wake up the next morning being hated.

Cloud sniffled again, his hands were wound around Zack's neck, playing with the low spikes of his hair.

"No... You're right. I'm sorry. Are we still okay?" the blonde asked him, hoping to the depths of his heart that he hadn't ruined their lifelong friendship.

"Yeah, course we are! C'mon, we're better friend's than that, it'd be stupid to let a little mistaken kiss ruin that." Zack laughed and ruffled Cloud's blonde hair, smirking a little as his laughter died down.

"Wanna head off to sleep now? I don't much feel like playing truth or dare..." The brunette looked off to the side, before turning his head back to the blonde and smiling softly.

"Um... After I ask you one last truth." Cloud blushed a little, smiling back at his best friend.

"Okay, shoot." Zack replied, a little shakily.

"Do you like me? As in, enough to date me one day?"

The question caught Zack off guard and he choked a little as he tried to swallow, but quickly and quietly composed himself, before nodding and answering the question put to him.

"Fuck, Cloud, yes. I do, and I'd love to date you, but I know that you're not ready for it at the moment, and I don't want to get hurt, or see you get hurt, because you're not ready to forget Sephiroth." He leant forwards and pressed his forehead to that of the blonde and closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

"Thankyou, that's all I needed to know." With that, Cloud kissed Zack on the cheek and got up, sliding into the bed beside him and snuggling down in the dark.

"A-Are you put off me now?" Zack asked, dreading hearing the answer he almost knew was going to be a yes.

"Hell no, I like you too, but I'm _not_ ready to forget him, and I don't know when I will be. I just wanted to know the truth, because I've always wanted to know, since we were teenagers. And I felt you kiss me back, so I just... needed to know." He smiled cutely and closed his eyes, yawning a little and then rubbing his eyes.

"Now, shut up 'cause I need my beauty sleep." He chuckled, the clutches of sleep reaching him slowly.

"Night, Cloud..." Zack smiled to himself, sliding under the covers and pecking the blonde on the forehead.

"Night... Zack..." He finally fell asleep, Zack watched for a while before he too fell asleep.

The next morning when Zack awoke before Cloud, he decided to go have a shower while the blonde stayed sleeping. When he returned to his room, Cloud was barely awake and Zack was in a towel that barely reached to halfway down his thighs. Cloud rubbed his eyes lazily before looking up and taking in Zack's muscled body.

"W-Woah..." Cloud blushed, his eyes drinking up every bit of skin they could see. Zack felt quite uncomfortable while he was being oggled, and decided to whip across the room to his wardrobe, drag out a pair of jeans and a tshirt, some fresh boxers and some socks, and rush back to the bathroom where he dressed in a couple minutes and wrapped the towel round his head, like a turban.

when he next escaped the bathroom, Cloud was dressed in fresh clothes, with his shirt unbuttoned exposing his pale chest, as he sprayed himself with some deoderant.

"U-Uh... Hi?" Cloud blushed dropping the deoderant mid-spray and messily buttoning his shirt back up, getting some buttons in the wrong holes.

"Need some help, Spike?" Zack laughed at Cloud's clumsiness and waltzed over, kneeling down to re-button the black shirt that was way too big for him.

"Cloud... Who's shirt is this?" The brunette asked solemnly.

"U-Uhm..." Cloud looked down and to the left, blushing madly.

"Why are you wearing his shirt?" Zack clenched his fists, he couldn't conceal that he was genuinely pissed off about it.

"B-Because I'm not ready to let go yet..." Cloud replied, stepping away and turning around to button the shirt more carefully.

"Okay... Fine... Whatever..." Zack groaned, standing up straight and raising both hands in an 'I don't know' kind of gesture.

"Boys?" Sarah knocked on the door twice, opening it and smiling at them both.

"Breakfast's on the table, I made you both bacon and eggs, I hope you enjoy it. I have to go out now, so I'll leave you to it. Have fun, 'kay?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Fair." Cloud smiled politely, looking up at Zack who uttered his thanks also.

"Okay... Bye now." She called as she began to trot down the stairs, leaving the two in the house alone.

They went downstairs and began eating their food before it got too cold. Zack smiled and apologised to Cloud, who shrugged it off and forgave him.

"It'd be even more stupid to let bitter feelings get in the way of our friendship, eh?" Cloud chuckled and stood.

"I should go though, my mum'll be expecting me shortly, it is almost 10." He smiled genuinely, before grabbing his stuff and closing the door behind him, bidding Zack goodbye as he went.

"That one's gonna be a difficult one..." Zack muttered to himself as he watched the blonde's ass wiggle in it's special way as the door shut behind it.

**GUESS WHO'S BACK... BACK AGAIN... I AM BACK... TELL YOUR FRIENDS...**

**Okay yes they were lyrics to a song, an Eminem song that I don't much like, but still...**

**I'M BAAAAAACCCKKKKKK ;D**

**And so is this story! Did you miss us? I'll bet you did. **

**I hope this chapter makes up for that huge gap of time that I didn't update for... **

**Sorry bout that guys. **

**Love you all bunches, don't forget to R&R! :DD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Broken Promises Chapter 5**

**Okay, so uh... It's been way too long, and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing to this story. I never made a plan, it was really just more of a... wing it and see what happens kind of thing xD;**

**But yeah, I'm back. And this should hopefully turn out alright. Trying to get back into writing, because this is hopefully going to be some kind of future career thing. Not fan fictions, I mean journalism. Might end up going into novels when I get a bit older, and more experienced. **

**I realised that I made Cloud completely OOC in this fic, going with the cutesy innocent appearance. I don't really like that; I always tried to make them fit their characters better. I think I'm doing an alright job with Zack so far, though. I guess one is better than none! **

**It also dawned on me that I don't think I've ever added a disclaimer to this series. So, finally, here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story, except anyone's fake parents that I made up on the spot. c: **

Cloud looked over at his alarm clock as it beeped obnoxiously from on top of his bedside cabinet. He threw his arm over lazily and hit it a few times, trying to make it stop blaring so loudly. It was only 8:02 am. The blonde sighed and sat up clumsily, hunched forwards as he rubbed at his eyes.

He sniffed the air, the smell of fresh dough waking him up a little more. He swung his legs out over the side of his bed and stood, stretching his thin body out as much as he could, groaning at the feeling. He dragged his feet across the royal blue plush carpet and pushed the door to his en suite bathroom open, mechanically turning the knobs on the wall and setting the shower to the right temperature and pressure. He stripped of the only item of clothing he was wearing – some boxer shorts – and stepped under the jet. He scratched at his scalp while he waited for the water to be the perfect temperature, and then began to wash himself.

Once he had finished in the shower he returned to his bedroom, fully awake, and dressed himself before flipping open his mobile phone and listening to the voicemail Zack had left while he was in the shower.

"Hey, Spike! Listen, I know you said you're not ready to move on from Sephiroth yet, but I was just wondering... if you wanted to go on a date. Catch a movie, and then get some dinner at Frankie and Benny's? Just uh, call me back with an answer as soon as possible? I was thinking of going tonight, if you don't have any plans...? Anyway, see-yah some time." Cloud felt his cheeks warm up with a blush, smiling to himself. Maybe he was a little ready to start forgetting Seph. It had been a couple of weeks since he told Zack he wasn't ready, anyway.

His fingers automatically dialled Zack's number, his heart racing as the phone rang. His breath hitched a little when Zack answered excitedly, coughing a little but composing himself before it became too bad.

"H-Hey, Zack... I just got your voicemail. It uh... it sounds like a really good plan. What time were you thinking of?" Cloud spoke so quietly he was surprised Zack could hear a word he was saying.

"Really? That's awesome! Uh... about 6? I'll come pick you up on my bike." Cloud could hear the excitement in Zack's voice and chuckled to himself.

"Okay, don't worry about a spare helmet, I'll use mine. Reminds me actually, some time you gotta help me fix up Fenrir, she's getting a bit rusty sat in the garage the whole time."

"Sure buddy, any time! See you at six yeah?"

"Alright, bye." Cloud could barely hide his own excitement. He left his room and found his mother in the kitchen, making pancakes.

"Oh, Cloud! You're up. I was going to bring you these in bed, but never mind. Take a seat at the breakfast bar, dear. It'll only be a minute." She smiled, tossing a pancake expertly into the air without a lot of effort. Cloud always had admired his mother's cooking abilities, her food always came out brilliantly, yet she didn't seem to try too hard.

Once Cloud had a healthy stack of pancakes, topped with Maple Syrup, on his plate, his mother stopped cooking and kissed her son lightly on the forehead.

"Oh hey mum, Zack's taking me out for dinner and to the cinema later. He's picking me up at about 6. So don't worry about making my dinner, have something with dad." Cloud spoke between hefty mouthfuls of pancake, maple syrup dribbling down his chin and dripping onto his plate. His mother laughed at him and nodded before walking off into the living room.

Cloud finished his pancakes and retired to his room again, he needed to decide on something to wear. He may be a man, but he definitely has his girly moments.

He fished around in his wardrobe until he found a deep blue shirt which was tightly fitted to his body. He smiled and nodded to himself, throwing it, coat hanger and all, onto his bed and rooting around for some jeans. He found some black skinny jeans and shrugged indifferently, tossing them to join his shirt on the bed. He picked out his black and white chucks and was done with it.

He spent the rest of the day chilling out on the sofa with his mother, watching silly game shows like _Pointless _and _Countdown. _

When 6pm was getting close, Cloud changed into his desired outfit and checked himself out in the full-length mirror on his bedroom wall. He smiled; his shirt fit him in the right way, showing off his relatively broad shoulders and the little amount of muscle he had on his arms. His skinny jeans defined his ass well, but fit loosely around his legs, giving him almost completely free movement. He lounged on his bed for the last twenty-odd minutes before Zack arrived, grabbing a padded hoodie and his crash helmet from the shelf in his wardrobe and answering the door.

Zack smiled down at his best-friend-turned-love-interest and pecked a kiss on his soft cheek, which blossomed red as he pulled away.

"Sup, Spike? Ready to go?" He asked, indicating with his head for Cloud to follow. Cloud yelled goodbye to his mother and shut the door behind them, following Zack to a matte black motorbike, parked crookedly on the driveway.

"Oh, wow! You've fixed her up a treat! She looks so good!" Cloud grinned, pulling his hoodie on and crash helmet on, stroking the bike as though it were a tame animal. Zack smirked and turned the ignition, making the bike purr loudly into life. He swung his leg over and took the bike off its temporary stand, pulling his helmet on over his wild spikes. He handed Cloud a pair of gloves and smiled, silently ordering him onto the passenger seat of the motorbike. Cloud stepped onto the foot rest and swung his leg over the seat, grabbing Zack's waist and settling down comfortably. He was so small he hardly made a difference to the weight on the bike. Zack revved a couple of times and took off, driving them into the heart of town at an almost constant speed of 50mph.

_He's still a speed-junkie, then. _Cloud thought to himself, listening to the wind as it whistled past his helmet and through a small gap under the visor. Once they arrived at the cinema complex, Zack parked the bike in the spaces designated for motorbikes and put his brake lock on, removing his gloves and helmet and carrying it into the cinema with him. Cloud did the same, but also removed his hoodie and stuffed it into his helmet. Zack ordered two tickets to see some action film Cloud didn't pay attention to the title of, and bought them both some popcorn and a large drink, with two straws, to share. They took their seats at the back of screen 8 and began eating the popcorn before the film even started.

Somewhere during the middle of the film, Zack had placed his arm around Cloud's shoulder. And Cloud had placed his hand on Zack's thigh. They sat like this, half paying attention to the film, half paying attention to each other, throughout the duration of the movie - which it turned out was a Kung-Fu film featuring Jet-Li and Jackie Chan. They bumped foreheads a couple of times while bending down for a drink at the same time, laughing it off silently while hoping the other wouldn't spot their bright blush of embarrassment and proximity.

Once the film had ended, they reluctantly removed their hands from the other and stood, stretching their tired limbs. They made their way across the car park to the restaurant, Frankie & Benny's. Once inside, Zack ordered a table for two and was met by a waitress, directing the two teens over to a quiet table in the corner and handing them a menu each. They both smiled their thanks and directed their gaze to the menus, deciding on what to eat. They both decided to get a starter of pasta with pesto sauce and share a twelve-inch pepperoni pizza. Once they had ordered their food and drink, Zack opting for normal coke and Cloud going with a diet, they handed their menus back to the same waitress and waited for their food. She walked off with a happy wiggle, looking over her shoulder and shooting Cloud a knowing wink. Zack saw and chuckled.

"Don't mind her, it's just Tifa. She moved here not long after you moved out of your parents' place, and I was lumbered with the community task of showing her around town. We got to be good friends. She knows who you are..." He looked down at his place on the table nervously, rubbing the back of his neck absent-mindedly.

"Oh, right. Maybe we should hang out with her one day? She seems kind of nice." Zack smiled at Cloud's hospitality, he always was nice to everyone, so open. He found it so easy to make a friend; that's how Zack usually ended up knowing people – through Cloud.

"Sure, sounds like a plan." The brunette smiled back, shifting in his seat and moving his legs under the table, accidentally brushing against Cloud's calves.

"Oh, sorry..." Zack hurriedly apologized and brought his legs back closer to him, crossing his feet underneath his chair.

"It's fine." Cloud chuckled almost angelically. They didn't realise, until Tifa brought their starters over, that they had been leaning forward, propped up on their elbows. They weren't very far from each other's faces. Both blushed, Cloud more than Zack, and pulled away hurriedly in embarrassment as Tifa put their food down in front of them.

"Bon appetite." She winked at Zack as she walked away, her hips wiggling as happily as before.

They both gave her their thanks and picked up their forks, beginning to eat.

Cloud timidly speared a few pasta spirals with his fork and raised them to his mouth, sniffing them tentatively, before deciding they were safe and popping them into his mouth, chewing with slow, deliberate movements of his jaw. Zack watched him curiously before laughing and turning his attention back to his bowl of pasta, finishing it rather quickly. He waited patiently for Cloud to finish, sipping his coke and lounging back in his wooden chair. Cloud finished and smiled up at Zack, taking a large swig of his diet coke and washing down the pasta pesto.

They looked up as Tifa put the large pizza down on the table in between them. It had been sliced into 10 equal parts, the stuffed-crust oozing with cheese. They said thank you once more and took a slice each, biting off sizeable chunks and chewing them slowly, exhaling around their mouthfuls as they were too hot. They laughed at each other's stupidity and cooled their mouths down with a large gulp of their drinks.

Once they had finished their pizza and Zack had paid for it, they headed back outside into the cool night air, standing by Zack's bike and looking up at the stars. Cloud was the first to put his jacket back on and climb onto Zack's motorbike, helmet in his hands. He looked over at his best friend and blushed as he stepped closer, placing his hands on the bike seat, one in front of Cloud, the other just behind him. He leant closer and smiled.

"You look so beautiful in the moonlight. I always thought so, even when we were kids. Your hair turns a really nice golden colour, and your eyes seem brighter."

Cloud blushed as Zack finally let their lips meet for the first real time, his hands keeping a tight hold of his bike helmet as though it were the only thing reassuring him this was real. Zack turned his head slightly into a more comfortable angle, the hand that was behind Cloud coming to rest on the small of his back. Cloud let go of his helmet and brought his hands up and tangled them in Zack's long, spiky hair. He moaned a little when Zack's soft tongue ran across his bottom lip, sending a warm shiver from his groin to his lower stomach.

Zack pulled away regretfully and donned his jacket, gloves and helmet, climbing onto the bike in front of Cloud, revving the engine and looking over his shoulder to check on the blonde who was slipping his helmet and gloves on, then wrapping his thin arms round Zack's waist.

They shot off into the night, going a little slower than they had on the way to the cinema because of the visibility difficulties of the night.

Once they had finally reached Cloud's house once again, Zack took off his helmet and left it on his bike seat. He walked the blonde to the porch and smiled down at him as he placed his helmet on the floor.

"I had a really nice time tonight, Zack. Thank you." Cloud smiled humbly, playing with a loose thread on the cuff of his hoodie.

"No problem, you're worth it, Spike."

"Uhm... Zack?"

"Yeah?"

"Can... Can you kiss me again?" Cloud blushed, barely visible in the moonlight but still obviously there. Zack chuckled and stepped towards the blonde as he raised himself onto tip-toes, pressing their lips together once more, kissing just as tenderly as they had in the car park.

The porch light flashed on and off a few times and they pulled away from each other. Cloud rolled his eyes and picked up his helmet, waving Zack off and opening the front door. He stood there for a moment, watching the brunette ride away into the darkness, disappearing quickly due to the darkness of his bike and attire.

Cloud smiled to himself and shut the front door, placing his house key in the bowl on the counter. He slipped his shoes off and ignored the smirk on his mother's face as he hurried to his bedroom, stripping down to his boxers and crawling into bed happily.

He would sleep soundly tonight. No more nightmares of silver snakes with piercing green eyes.

**I actually **_**really**_** enjoyed writing this chapter. I feel kind of accomplished, and I swear that I will now try my hardest to update this as often as I can. **

**I'm hoping that the length of this chapter will make up for the time I've been away, and there's also a little cuteness in this chapter. :D **

**Yeah, I suddenly realised that the chapters don't have to immediately continue where the last left off, I was stupid for thinking they had to. I'm kind of enjoying the time-skip thing, it means less faffing and more yaoi!**

**Thank you all so much for sticking with this fan-fic for as long as you have, assuming any of you are even still here... ;_; **

**Please, please, please! Review, because that's what encouraged me to continue this. I was reading the reviews on my phone, since I'm internet-less for a couple of days (writing this on the 30****th**** of May, but I'm going to my friend's house tomorrow and I'll have internet there.) And I saw that there were still people who were waiting for me to get off my ass and write something! **

**Much love! **

**xxSarukoChanxx (did I ever tell you I hate my screen-name? :C) I wish I could change itttttt.**


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